Toronto’s Crack-Smoking Mayor Takes Leave for Rehab After Reports of Another Video Surface

TORONTO (TheBlaze/AP) — Toronto Mayor Rob Ford — infamous for admitting he smoked crack cocaine after a video emerged — will take a leave of absence to seek help for alcohol. This decision comes after a report surfaced about another video of him smoking what appears to be crack cocaine.

In this Tuesday, December 10 2013 file photo, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s lawyer said on Wednesday, April 30, 2014, that Ford will take a leave of absence to seek help for substance abuse. (AP/The Canadian Press, Chris Young)

Ford, who is seeking re-election in the Oct. 27 vote, said Wednesday he will take an immediate leave from his job and his campaign. He intends to remain in the running for the election though.

“I have a problem with alcohol, and the choices I have made while under the influence. I have struggled with this for some time,” Ford said in statement late Wednesday.

The Globe and Mail newspaper said it has viewed a second video of Ford smoking what appears to be crack cocaine in his sister’s basement. The national newspaper said two Globe reporters viewed the video from a self-professed drug dealer showing Ford taking a drag from a pipe early Saturday morning.

The video is part “of a package of three videos the dealer said was surreptitiously filmed around 1:15 a.m., and which he says he is now selling for ‘at least six figures,'” the paper reported.

News reports of the existence of an earlier video of Ford apparently smoking crack first surfaced last May, igniting a media firestorm around Ford.

Ford’s lawyer, Dennis Morris, said he spoke to Ford earlier Wednesday and said Ford has accepted that he has a problem.

“He acknowledges he has a substance abuse problem and he wants to do something about it,” Morris told The Associated Press.

Ford, who launched his campaign for re-election earlier this year, acknowledged last year after months of denials that he smoked crack in a “drunken stupor” after police said they obtained a video that appears to show him smoking crack. The video has never been released to the public.

Toronto mayor Rob Ford, left, arrives at his home in Toronto early Thursday May 1, 2014. After maintaining for months that he is not an addict or an alcoholic, Rob Ford announced Wednesday he is seeking help for substance abuse, even as media reports emerged with new drug and alcohol allegations. (AP/The Canadian Press, Nathan Denette)

Also on Wednesday, The Toronto Sun said that it had obtained an audio recording of Ford making offensive remarks about other politicians at a bar on Monday night.

Ford has refused to resign, despite mounting pressure after a string of incidents, from public drunkenness to an appearance in another video that showed him threatening “murder” in an incoherent rant. Toronto’s city council has stripped him of most of his powers.

Ford said last year that he quit drinking alcohol after having a “come to Jesus moment” but later acknowledged that he drank again. A number of recordings of the mayor intoxicated have surfaced since.

Ford acknowledged “rocky moments over the past year” during his official campaign launch earlier this month but vowed to fight harder than ever to win re-election.

Ford, who was the first to register as a candidate in January, invoked the spirit of second chances during a speech in front of supporters.

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford reacts as he speaks to his supporters during his re-election campaign launch in Toronto, on Thursday, April 17, 2014. His main rivals  Olivia Chow, John Tory, Karen Stintz and David Socknacki  have already started their bids for the job. Ford was stripped of most of his powers after he admitted to having smoked crack cocaine. (AP/The Canadian Press, Nathan Denette)

A message left with Ford’s chief of staff was not returned. Ford’s lawyer, Morris, did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment on the reports that emerged Wednesday night.

John Tory, who is running against Ford in the election, said he’s relieved that Ford is seeking help but said “for the good of the city” he should resign.

Late night comedian Jimmy Kimmel, who has repeatedly poked fun at Ford and hosted him on his show, tweeted that he was concerned about Ford. “All jokes aside, I hope@TOMayorFord really does get the help he obviously needs,” Kimmel tweeted.

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